User-generated content system for the creation of friends

ABSTRACT

A method and system hosts a game on a collaboration platform to allow playing users to participate in gameplay of the game. The method and system identify a condition of the game that is specified by the creating user of the game and identifies first social interaction criteria for the plurality of playing user. Satisfaction of the condition qualities at least one of the playing users to receive a friend request. The method and system determine that a first social interaction between a first playing user and a second playing user of the plurality of playing users playing the game satisfies the condition of the game. The method and system send the friend request to a first client device of the first playing user inviting the first playing user to establish a friendship with the second playing user on the collaboration platform.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of, and claims priority to, U.S.patent application Ser. No. 16/127,842, filed Sep. 11, 2018, thecontents of which are incorporated herein by reference in theirentirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This disclosure relates to the field of user-generated content (UGC)platforms and, in particular, to establishing friendships onuser-generated content platforms using user-generated social interactionconditions.

BACKGROUND

User-generated content platforms allow users to connect to and shareinformation with each other via the Internet. Users of user-generatedcontent platform, such as a gaming platform, may participate inmultiplayer gaming environments, design custom gaming environments,decorate avatars, or exchange virtual items with other users, and soforth.

DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

Various implementations of the disclosure will be understood more fullyfrom the detailed description given below and from the accompanyingdrawings of various implementations of the disclosure.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example system architecture, in accordance withimplementations of the disclosure.

FIG. 2A is a flow diagram illustrating a method for establishingfriendships on a collaboration platform, in accordance withimplementations of the disclosure.

FIG. 2B is a flow diagram illustrating method for establishingfriendships using a game, in accordance with implementations of thedisclosure.

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram illustrating a method for determining whetherthe friendship satisfies the quality friendship threshold, in accordancewith implementations of the disclosure.

FIG. 4 illustrates a user interface to create and build games on thecollaboration platform, in accordance with some implementations of thedisclosure.

FIG. 5 illustrates a user interface that allows a creating user toselect a social interaction condition to establish friendships via acreating user's game, in accordance with some implementations of thedisclosure.

FIG. 6 illustrates a user interface showing search results for games, inaccordance with some implementations of the disclosure.

FIG. 7 illustrates a user interface to present a metric of friendships,in accordance with some implementations of the disclosure.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary computer system, inaccordance with implementations of the disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Collaboration platforms (also referred to as “user-generated contentplatforms” or “user-generated content systems” herein), such as gamingplatforms, offer a variety of ways for users to interact with oneanother. For example, users of a gaming platform may work togethertowards a common goal, share various virtual gaming items, sendelectronic messages to one another, and so forth. Users (e.g., playingusers) of a collaboration platform may play games as characters oravatars. A collaboration platform may also allow users (e.g., creatingusers) of the platform to create content for the platform that may beconsumed by playing users of the platform. For example, creating usersof the collaboration platform may create game specifications withdevelopmental tools and publish the created games using the gamespecifications.

In some systems, a playing user may make a “friend” with another playinguser by sending a friend request to the other playing user. If the otherplaying user accepts the friend request, the two playing users becomefriends on the systems. In some systems, friends may have access to oneanother's account information, while non-friends are blocked fromaccessing one another's account information.

In some systems, friend suggestions may be provided by the system to aplaying user. The friend suggestions may suggest one or more other userswith whom the playing user may be interested in becoming friends. Thesystems may use various techniques to determine friend suggestions, butthe techniques may not be determined or specified by users of thesystems. Additionally, the techniques may not be effective in suggestingfriends with whom a user wants to establish friendships. Further, thetechniques may not be effectively applied to other systems.

Aspects of the disclosure address the above-mentioned and otherchallenges by implementing crowdsourcing techniques in the creation offriends and friend requests on a collaboration platform. A creating usermay develop a game specification that allows a collaboration platform tohost a corresponding game and allow playing users to participate ingameplay of the game. The creating users can specify conditions ofsocial interaction for the game that identify social interactioncriteria. Pursuant to the conditions, the collaboration platform (orgame) may monitor for social interaction events between playing userswithin the game environment of the game during gameplay or outside ofthe game environment but on the collaboration platform. The satisfactionof the condition by in-game events (e.g., in-game social interactions)between characters or by global events (e.g., in-platform socialinteraction but outside the game environment of the game) betweencharacters (or playing users) can qualify the playing users to receivefriend requests to establish friendships.

In some implementations, subsequent to establishing a friendship usingthe user-generated conditions, the established friendship may bemonitored to determine whether the friendship satisfies a qualityfriendship threshold. In some implementations, the creating user may berecognized for establishing quality friendships and punitive actions maybe taken for establishing non-quality friendships. In someimplementations, additional feedback may be provided to the creatingusers to inform the creating users about the performance of theuser-generated conditions, the associated friend requests, and theestablished friendships. The feedback may be used by the creating usersto improve or modify the user-generated conditions that qualify playingusers to receive friend requests.

In some implementations, a developer interface is provided to a creatinguser that allows the creating user to create a game specification for agame or to specify a condition (e.g., social interaction condition) forthe game. The condition identifies social interaction criteria for thegame. The satisfaction of the condition qualifies at least one playinguser to receive a friend request. The collaboration platform may receivethe game specification created by the creating user using the developerinterface and the condition selected by the creating user.

In some implementations, the collaboration platform may host the game toallow playing users to participate in gameplay of the game. Thecollaboration platform may identify a condition that is specified by acreating user of the game and identifies social interaction criteria forplaying users of the game. The satisfaction of the social interactioncriteria of the condition qualifies at least one of the playing users toreceive a friend request. The collaboration platform or game may monitorthe game environment to identify in-game events indicative of socialinteractions that satisfy the condition of the game. The collaborationplatform (or the game) may monitor global events on the collaborationplatform to identify events that are outside the game environment but onthe collaboration platform and that satisfy the condition of the game.Responsive to identifying that the condition has been satisfied, thecollaboration platform or game may send a friend request to a playinguser whose social interactions with another playing user satisfied thecondition.

In implementations, the collaboration platform may monitor theestablished friendship to determine whether the friendship satisfies aquality friendship threshold. If the friendship is determined to satisfythe quality friendship threshold, the collaboration platform mayrecognize the creating user by, for example, promoting the game insearch results or promoting other games from the same creating user insearch results. If the friendship is determined to not satisfy thequality friendship threshold (e.g., non-quality friendship),collaboration platform may perform a punitive action with respect to thecreating user, such as reducing a ranking of the game that negativelyinfluences the appearance of the game in search results.

In some implementations, the collaboration platform may provide thecreating user with a dashboard that presents information to the creatinguser indicative of the friend requests sent and friendships establishedusing the user-generated conditions. The dashboard may provide feedbackto the creating user to help the creating user in evaluating thecreating user's user-generated conditions in establishing friendships.

In some implementations, a game for gameplay may be provided. Forexample, the game may be hosted by a game server associated with acreating user. In another example, the collaboration platform may hostthe game. In both examples, the game is accessible by playing users viathe collaboration platform. The game is associated with a condition thatidentifies social interaction criteria for the playing users playing thegame. Satisfaction of the condition qualifies at least one of theplaying users to receive a friend request. The system monitors for anevent identifier indicative of a social interaction between a firstplaying user and a second playing user of the playing users that areparticipating in the gameplay of the game. The event identifiers areindicative of a social interaction between playing users that areparticipating in the gameplay of the game. The game, based on the eventidentifiers, determines whether the social interaction between the firstplaying user and the second playing user satisfies the condition.Responsive to determining that the social interaction between the firstplaying user and the second playing user satisfies the condition, thegame causes the friend request to be sent to at least the first clientdevice of the playing user inviting the first playing user to establisha friendship with the second playing user on the collaboration platformor on the game. In one implementation, the game may send the friendrequest to the first playing user. In another implementation, the gamemay send an indication to the collaboration platform (via a friendingAPI) requesting the collaboration platform to send the friend request tothe first playing user.

In some implementations, monitoring for the event identifier indicativeof the first social interaction between the first playing user and thesecond playing user of the plurality of users that are participating inthe gameplay of the game includes monitoring a game environmentassociated with the game for an identifier of an in-game inventindicative of social interaction between the playing users within thegame environment.

In some implementations, monitoring for the event identifier indicativeof the first social interaction between the first playing user and thesecond playing user of the plurality of users that are participating inthe gameplay of the game includes may include receiving, from thecollaboration platform, an identifier of a global event indicative ofsocial interaction between the first playing user and the second playinguser outside the game environment of game and on the collaborationplatform. For example, the game or game server may use an applicationprogramming interface (API) to request and receive information, such asglobal event identifiers, from the collaboration platform that indicatesocial interaction between the first playing user and the second playinguser outside the game environment of game and on the collaborationplatform.

Accordingly, aspects of the disclosure provide creating users theability to specify and create conditions of social interaction withrespect to a particular game that responsive to being satisfied, causefriend requests to be sent to playing users, which allow the playinguser to establish friendships on the collaboration platform. Inparticular, the aforementioned addresses technological challenges andimproves the process of using and providing crowd-sourcing tools todetermine and establish friendships on a collaboration platform. Forexample, suggesting friendships on a platform using aspects of thepresent disclosure creates a system where users are more likely tobecome friends and establish quality friendships on a collaborationplatform or a game. In another example, users are given tools that allowthe users to actively participate in the identification of users thatmay receive friend requests. In another example, suggesting friendshipson a platform using aspects of the present disclosure allow users totailor the conditions under which friend suggestions are generated. Theaforementioned also improves the operation of a computer or computernetwork at least by distributing computational intensive operations(e.g., computer processing operations, computer storage operations,etc.) among client devices and the collaboration platform (e.g., serverdevices). Distributing the computational operations reduces thecomputational operations that are performed by the collaborationplatform and frees computational resources (e.g., computer processingresources, computer storage resources, etc.) of the collaborationplatform for other tasks. For example, game specification creation andsocial interaction condition creation may be performed by client devicesusing the computational resources of the client device, rather than thecomputational resources of the collaboration platform. Additionally,data related to the creation of game specification and conditions may bestored on client devices prior to upload reducing storage overhead ofthe collaboration platform.

It may be noted that a collaboration platform described as a gamingplatform herein is provided for purposes of illustration, rather thanlimitation. A collaboration platform may be one or more of numerousplatforms, such as a gaming platform, a social networking platform, apurchasing platform, a messaging platform, a creation platform, and soforth. It may be further noted that aspects of the disclosure areillustrated using an example of a gaming platform and games for purposesof illustration, rather than limitation. Aspects of the presentdisclosure may be applied to various platforms.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example system architecture 100, in accordancewith implementations of the disclosure. The system architecture 100(also referred to as “system” herein) includes client devices 110A and110B (generally referred to as “client device(s) 110” herein), a network105, a data store 106, a collaboration platform 120, and a server 130.It may be noted that system architecture 100 is provided forillustration, rather than limitation. In implementations, the systemarchitecture 100 may include the same, fewer, more, or differentelements configured in the same or different manner.

In one implementation, network 105 may include a public network (e.g.,the Internet), a private network (e.g., a local area network (LAN) orwide area network (WAN)), a wired network (e.g., Ethernet network), awireless network (e.g., an 802.11 network, a Wi-Fi® network, or wirelessLAN (WLAN)), a cellular network (e.g., a Long Term Evolution (LTE)network), routers, hubs, switches, server computers, or a combinationthereof.

In one implementation, the data store 106 may be a memory (e.g., randomaccess memory), a cache, a drive (e.g., a hard drive), a flash drive, adatabase system, or another type of component or device capable ofstoring data. The data store 106 may also include multiple storagecomponents (e.g., multiple drives or multiple databases) that may alsospan multiple computing devices (e.g., multiple server computers).

In implementations, the server 130 may be one or more computing devices(e.g., a rackmount server, a server computer, cluster of physicalservers, etc.). In implementations, the server 130 may be included inthe collaboration platform 120, be an independent system, or be part ofanother system or platform. The server 130 may include user-generatedcontent friendship module 140.

In some implementations, the collaboration platform 120 may be one ormore computing devices (such as a rackmount server, a router computer, aserver computer, a personal computer, a mainframe computer, a laptopcomputer, a tablet computer, a desktop computer, etc.), data stores(e.g., hard disks, memories, databases), networks, software components,and/or hardware components that may be used to perform operations on thecollaboration platform 120 and to provide a user with access tocollaboration platform 120. The collaboration platform 120 may alsoinclude a website (e.g., a webpage) or application back-end softwarethat may be used to provide a user with access to content provided bycollaboration platform 120. For example, users may access collaborationplatform 120 using collaboration application 114 on client devices 110.It may be noted that collaboration application 114A and 114B maygenerally referred to as collaboration application(s) 114 herein. Insome implementations, collaboration application 114 may be two instancesof the same application.

In implementations, collaboration platform 120 may be a type of socialnetwork providing connections between users or a type of user-generatedcontent system that allows users (e.g., end-users or consumers) tocreate content for the platform, where the created content may also beconsumed by other users of the system. In implementations of thedisclosure, a “user” may be represented as a single individual. However,other implementations of the disclosure encompass a “user” (e.g.,creating user) being an entity controlled by a set of users or anautomated source. For example, a set of individual users federated as acommunity or group in a user-generated content system may be considereda “user.”

In one implementation, collaboration platform 120 may be a gamingplatform, such as an online gaming platform or a virtual gamingplatform. For example, the gaming platform may provide single-player ormultiplayer games to a community of users that may access or interactwith the games 122A-122Z using client devices 110 via network 105. Inimplementations, games 122 (also referred to as “video game,” “onlinegame,” or “virtual game” herein) may be two-dimensional (2D) games,three-dimensional (3D) games (e.g., 3D user-generated games usingcreator module 126), virtual reality (VR) games, or augmented reality(AR) games, for example. In implementations, users, such as playingusers may participate in gameplay with other playing users. Inimplementations, a game 122 may be played in real-time with other usersof the game 122.

In implementations, gameplay may refer to interaction of one or moreplayers with a game environment or the presentation of the interactionon a display of a client device. In implementations, real-time or livegameplay may refer to the broadcast, presentation, or display ofgameplay as the gameplay occurs, rather than past or recorded gameplay.For example, real-time gameplay may be displayed on a display of aclient device 110 substantially concurrent with user interaction with agame environment (at least within the technical limitations ofdisplaying real-time action, e.g., the user interaction with the gamemay be displayed within milliseconds of user input and may appear to theuser as if in absolute real-time). A game environment may refer toelements of gameplay, an environment or space in which the gameplay canbe presented or rendered, or the space in which a character or avatarcan interact. Parts of the game environment may be visible to a playeruser (e.g., the view of the playing user), while other parts of thegaming environment may not be visible to a player user (e.g., elementsoutside the view of the playing user). The game environment may bedefined by game rules or game logic (e.g., game specification) andrendered for consumption by playing users.

In implementations, a view of the gameplay may be presented on theclient device 110. The views on different client devices 110 may be thesame or different. In implementations, a view (also referred to as“field of view” herein) may refer to the extent of the observable gameworld that may be seen at any given moment from the perspective of agame camera and that is presented in the display of a client device. Forexample, the view of the game camera may be from a first-personperspective or a third-person perspective or some combination thereof.

In some implementations, a game 122 can be defined by a gamespecification. A game specification may include an electronic file thatcan be executed or loaded using software, firmware or hardwareconfigured to present the game content (e.g., digital media item) to anentity. In implementations, a game specification of a game 122 may beexecuted and rendered using a game engine 124. In some implementations,a game specification of a game 122 may define a common set of rules orcommon goal, and define the game environment(s) of a game 122 share thecommon set of rules or common goal. In implementations, different gamesmay have different rules or goals from one another.

In some implementations, games may have one or more environments (alsoreferred to as “game environments” or “virtual environments” herein)where multiple game environments may be linked. An example of a gameenvironment may be a three-dimensional (3D) game environment. The one ormore game environments of a game 122 may be collectively referred to a“world” or “gaming world” or “virtual world” or “universe” herein. Forexample, a user may build a virtual environment that is linked toanother virtual environment created by another user. A character of thevirtual game may cross the virtual border to enter the adjacent virtualenvironment.

It may be noted that 3D environments or 3D worlds use graphics that usea three-dimensional representation of geometric data representative ofgame content (or at least present game content to appear as 3D contentwhether or not 3D representation of geometric data is used). 2Denvironments or 2D worlds use graphics that use two-dimensionalrepresentation of geometric data representative of game content.

In some implementations, collaboration platform 120 hosts games 122 andallows users to interact with the games 122 using collaborationapplication 114 of client devices 110. Users of collaboration platform120 may play, create, interact with, or build games 122, or create andbuild objects (e.g., also referred to as “item(s)” or “game objects” or“virtual game item(s)” herein) of games 122. For example, in generatinguser-generated virtual items, users may create characters, decorationfor the characters, one or more virtual environments for an interactivegame, or build structures used in a game 122, among others. Inimplementations, users may buy, sell, or trade game virtual gameobjects, such as in-platform currency (e.g., virtual currency), withother users of the collaboration platform 120. In implementations,collaboration platform 120 may transmit game content to collaborationapplications 114. In implementations, game content (also referred to as“content” herein) may refer to any data or software instructions (e.g.,game objects, game, user information, video, images, commands, mediaitem, etc.) associated with collaboration platform 120 or collaborationapplications 114. In implementations, game objects (e.g., also referredto as “item(s)” or “objects” or “virtual game item(s)” herein) may referto objects that are used, created, shared or otherwise depicted in games122 of the collaboration platform 120. For example, game objects mayinclude a part, model, character, tools, weapons, clothing, buildings,vehicles, currency, flora, fauna, components of the aforementioned(e.g., windows of a building), and so forth.

It may be noted that collaboration platform 120 hosting games 122, isprovided for purposes of illustration, rather than limitation. In someimplementations, a sever outside of collaboration platform 120 may hostone or more games 122. In some implementations, collaboration platform120 may host one or more media items. Media items can include, but arenot limited to, digital video, digital movies, digital photos, digitalmusic, audio content, melodies, website content, social media updates,electronic books, electronic magazines, digital newspapers, digitalaudio books, electronic journals, web blogs, real simple syndication(RSS) feeds, electronic comic books, software applications, etc. Inimplementations, a media item may be an electronic file that can beexecuted or loaded using software, firmware or hardware configured topresent the digital media item to an entity.

In some implementations, a game 122 may be associated with a particularuser or a particular group of users (e.g., a private game), or madewidely available to users of the collaboration platform 120 (e.g., apublic game). In implementations, where collaboration platform 120associates one or more games 122 with a specific user or group of users,collaboration platform 120 may associated the specific user(s) with agame 122 using user account information (e.g., a user account identifiersuch as username and password).

In some implementations, collaboration platform 120 or client devices110 may include a game engine 124. In implementations, game engine 124may be used for the development or execution of games 122. For example,game engine 124 may include a rendering engine (“renderer”) for 2D, 3D,VR, or AR graphics, a physics engine, a collision detection engine (andcollision response), sound engine, scripting functionality, animationengine, artificial intelligence engine, networking functionality,streaming functionality, memory management functionality, threadingfunctionality, scene graph functionality, or video support forcinematics, among other features. The components of the game engine 124may generate commands that help compute and render the game (e.g.,rendering commands, collision commands, physics commands, etc.) In someimplementations, game engine 124 of client devices 110 may workindependently, in collaboration with game engine 124 of collaborationplatform 120, or a combination of both.

In some implementations, both the collaboration platform 120 and clientdevice 110 execute a game engine 124. The collaboration platform 120using game engine 124 may perform some or all the game engine functions(e.g., generate physics commands, rendering commands, etc.), or offloadsome or all the game engine functions to game engine 124 of clientdevice 110. In some implementations, each game 122 may have a differentratio between the game engine functions that are performed on thecollaboration platform 120 and the game engine functions that areperformed on the client device 110. For example, the game engine 124 ofthe collaboration platform 120 may be used to generate physics commandsin cases where there is a collision between at least two game objects,while the additional game engine functionality (e.g., generate renderingcommands) may be offloaded to the client device 110. In someimplementations, the ratio of game engine functions performed on thecollaboration platform 120 and client device 110 may be changed (e.g.,dynamically) based on gameplay conditions. For example, if the number ofusers participating in gameplay of a particular game 122 exceeds athreshold number, the collaboration platform 120 may perform one or moregame engine functions that were previously performed by client device110.

For example, playing users may be playing a game 122 on client devices110 and may send control instructions (e.g., user inputs, such as right,left, up, down, user election, or character position and velocityinformation, etc.) to collaboration platform 120. Subsequent toreceiving control instructions from the client devices 110,collaboration platform 120 may send gameplay instructions (e.g.,position and velocity information of the characters participating in thegroup gameplay or commands, such as rendering commands, collisioncommands, etc.) to the client devices 110 based on control instructions.For instance, the collaboration platform 120 may perform one or morelogical operations (e.g., using game engine 124) on the controlinstructions to generate gameplay instruction for the client device 110.In other instances, collaboration platform 120 may pass one or more orthe control instructions from one client device 110 to other clientdevices participating in the game 122. The client devices 110 may usethe gameplay instructions and render the gameplay for presentation onthe displays of client devices 110.

In implementations, the control instructions may refer to instructionsthat are indicative of in-game actions of a user's character. Forexample, control instructions may include user input to control thein-game action, such as right, left, up, down, user selection, gyroscopeposition and orientation data, force sensor data, etc. The controlinstructions may include character position and velocity information. Inimplementations, the control instructions are sent directly to thecollaboration platform 120. In other implementations, the controlinstruction may be sent from a client device 110A to another clientdevice 110B, where the other client device 110B generates gameplayinstructions using the local game engine 124.

In implementations, gameplay instructions may refer to instructions thatallow a client device 110 to render gameplay of a game, such as amultiplayer game. The gameplay instructions may include one or more ofuser input (e.g., control instructions), character position and velocityinformation, or commands (e.g., physics commands, rendering commands,collision commands, etc.).

In implementations, collaboration platform 120 may include a creatormodule 126. In implementations, creator module 126 may allow users ofthe collaboration platform 120 to become creating user that design orcreate environments in an existing game 122, create new games, or createnew game objects within games or environments. For example, a creatinguser may create a game specification for a game where the gamespecification is sent to the collaboration platform 120 so that thecollaboration platform 120 can host the particular game.

In implementations, creator module 126 may allow a user to create,modify, or customize characters. In implementations, characters (or gameobjects generally) are constructed from components, one or more of whichmay be selected by the user, that automatically join together to aid theuser in editing. One or more characters (also referred to as an “avatar”or “model” herein) may be associated with a user (also referred to as a“playing user” herein) where the user may control the character tofacilitate a user's interaction with the game 122. In implementations, acharacter may include components such as body parts (e.g., hair, arms,legs, etc.) and accessories (e.g., t-shirt, glasses, decorative images,tools, etc.). In implementations, body parts of characters that arecustomizable include head type, body part types (arms, legs, torso, andhands), face types, hair types, and skin types, among others. Inimplementations, the accessories that are customizable include clothing(e.g., shirts, pants, hats, shoes, glasses, etc.), weapons, or othertools. In implementations, the user may also control the scale (e.g.,height, width, or depth) of a character or the scale of components of acharacter. In implementations, the user may control the proportions of acharacter (e.g., blocky, anatomical, etc.). It may be noted that is someimplementations, a character may not include a character game object(e.g., body parts, etc.) but the user may control the character (withoutthe character game object) to facilitate the user's interaction with thegame (e.g., a puzzle game where there is no rendered character gameobject, but the user still controls a character to control in-gameaction).

In some implementations, a component, such as a body part, may be aprimitive geometrical shape such as a block, a cylinder, a sphere, etc.,or some other primitive shape such as a wedge, a torus, a tube, achannel, etc. In implementations, creator module 126 may publish auser's character for view or use by other users of collaborationplatform 120. In some implementations, creating, modifying, orcustomizing characters, other game objects, games 122, or gameenvironments may be performed by a user using a user interface (e.g.,developer interface) and with or without scripting (or with or withoutan application programming interface (API)). It may be noted that forpurposes of illustration, rather than limitation, characters aredescribed as having a humanoid form. In may further be noted thatcharacters may have any form such as a vehicle, animal, inanimateobject, or other creative form.

In implementations, collaboration platform 120 may store characterscreated by users in data store 106. In implementations, thecollaboration platform 120 maintains a character catalog and gamecatalog that may be presented to users via collaboration application114. A user may select a game 122 from the game catalog to play. Inimplementations, the game catalog includes images of games stored oncollaboration platform 120. In addition, a user may select a character(created by the playing user or other user) from the character catalogto participate in the chosen game. The character catalog includes imagesof characters stored on the collaboration platform 120. Inimplementations, one or more of the characters in the character catalogmay have been created or customized by the user. In implementations, thechosen character may have character settings defining one or more of thecomponents of the character.

In implementations, a user's character includes a configuration ofcomponents, where the configuration and appearance of components andmore generally the appearance of the character may be defined bycharacter settings. In implementations, the character settings of auser's character may at least in part be chosen by the user. In otherimplementations, a user may choose a character with default charactersettings or character setting chosen by other users. For example, a usermay choose a default character from a character catalog that haspredefined character settings, and the user may further customize thedefault character by changing some of the character settings (e.g.,adding a shirt with a customized logo). The character settings may beassociated with a particular character by collaboration platform 120.

In implementations, collaboration platform 120 executing creator module126 includes a user-interfacing website or application (e.g.,collaboration application 114) where users (also referred to as“creating users,” “creators,” “owners,” or “owning users” herein) mayaccess online computational resources (e.g., cloud resources) hosted bycollaboration platform 120 for the purposes of building, administrating,editing, and interacting with personally owned games 122 or gamingenvironments. For example, creating module may provide a user interfaceand APIs so that creating users can access game content, game engines,as well as other resources and tools maintained by collaborationplatform 120. In implementations, creator module 126 includes toolsavailable to users for creating and instantiating three-dimensionalvirtual games or environments. In implementations, creator module 126 isavailable to users that wish to create and administer their own privatevirtual game 122. In implementations, a user may access creator module126 using collaboration application 114. In implementations, creatormodule 126 may use a user interface (also referred to as a “developerinterface” herein) via collaboration application 114 to allow usersaccess the functionality of creator module 126. In implementations, thedeveloper interface may be part of collaboration application 114. Forexample, a developer interface of collaboration application 114 mayallow a user access to a library of game objects that may be selected bythe user to build a game environment or build a game 122. The user maypublish their game objects via the developer interface so that the gameis available to users of collaboration platform 120.

In implementations, creator module 126 may provide control of createdgames 122 and environments to creating users who may set administrativepolicy regarding which users will be allowed to interact with thecreated game 122 or environment and which users have the capability ofmodifying, editing, or interacting with the game 122 or environment.Users with administrative control may also be referred to asadministrative users herein, unless otherwise specified. In someimplementations, administrative rules can be granular to the point ofspecifying various levels of interaction, modification, or editingcapabilities for certain individuals who might be recruited or otherwisedesire to interact with the game 122 or gaming environment. For example,individuals may be recruited from friends in collaboration platform 120or friends from social networks or in other group associated onlinevenues. In implementations, creator module 126 has administrative toolsfor setting such policies including or in addition to general rules forinteraction within the game 122 or gaming environment.

In implementations, the client devices 110A through 110B may eachinclude computing devices such as personal computers (PCs), mobiledevices (e.g., laptops, mobile phones, smart phones, tablet computers,or netbook computers), network-connected televisions, gaming consoles,etc. In some implementations, client devices 110A through 110B may alsobe referred to as “user devices.” In implementations, one or more clientdevices 110 via collaboration application 114 may connect tocollaboration platform 120 at any given moment. It may be noted that thenumber of client devices 110 is provided as illustration, rather thanlimitation. In implementations, any number of client devices 110 may beused.

In implementations, each client device 110 may include an instance ofcollaboration application 114. In one implementation, the collaborationapplication 114 may be an application that allows users to use andinteract with collaboration platform 120, such as control a virtualcharacter in a virtual game hosted by collaboration platform 120, orview or upload content, such as games 122, images, video items, webpages, documents, and so forth. In one example, the collaborationapplication 114 may be a web application (e.g., an application thatoperates in conjunction with a web browser) that can access, retrieve,present, or navigate content (e.g., virtual character in a virtualenvironment, etc.) served by a web server. In another example,collaboration application 114 may be a native application (e.g., amobile application, app, or a gaming program) that is installed andexecutes local to client device 110 and allows users to interact withcollaboration platform 120. The collaboration application 114 mayrender, display, or present the content (e.g., a web page, a mediaviewer) to a user. In an implementation, the collaboration application114 may also include an embedded media player (e.g., a Flash® player)that is embedded in a web page.

According to aspects of the disclosure, the collaboration application114 may be a collaboration platform application for users to build,create, edit, upload content to the collaboration platform 120 as wellas interact with collaboration platform 120 (e.g., play games 122 hostedby collaboration platform 120). As such, the collaboration applications114 may be provided to the client devices 110A and 110B by the server130 or collaboration platform 120. In another example, the collaborationapplications 114 may be applications that are downloaded from the server130. In some implementations, collaboration application 114 of clientdevice 110 may include game engine 124. In some implementations, gameengine 124 of client device 110 may be separate from collaborationapplication 114.

In implementations, a user may login to collaboration platform 120 viacollaboration application 114. The user may access a user account byproviding user account information (e.g., username and password) wherethe user account is associated with one or more characters available toparticipate in one or more games 122 of collaboration platform 120.

In general, functions described in one implementation as being performedby the collaboration platform 120 can also be performed by the clientdevices 110A through 110B, or server 130, in other implementations ifappropriate. In addition, the functionality attributed to a particularcomponent can be performed by different or multiple components operatingtogether. The collaboration platform 120 can also be accessed as aservice provided to other systems or devices through appropriateapplication programming interfaces (APIs), and thus is not limited touse in websites.

In implementations, collaboration platform 120 may include messagingmodule 128. In implementations, messaging module 128 may be a system,application, or module that allows users to exchange electronic messagesvia a communication system, such as network 105. Messaging module 128may be associated with collaboration application 114 (e.g., module ofcollaboration application 114 or be a separate application). Inimplementations, users may interface with messaging module 128 andexchange electronic messages among users of collaboration platform 120.Messaging module 128 may be, for example, an instant messagingapplication, a text messaging application, an email application, a voicemessaging application, a video messaging application, or a combinationthereof, among others.

In implementations, messaging module 128 may facilitate the exchange ofelectronic messages between users. For example, a user may be loggedinto a messaging application on client device 110A, and another user maybe logged into a messaging application on client device 110B. The twousers may start a conversation, such as an instant messagingconversation. Messaging module 128 may help facilitate the messagingconversation by sending and receiving the electronic messages betweenthe users of collaboration platform 120. In another implementation, twousers may use respective messaging applications to participate inin-game dialog with one another where the dialog may be part of the viewthat includes the gameplay.

In implementations, users of a collaboration platform 120 may be linkedto other users and be recognized by the collaboration platform 120 as“friends.” A “friend” on the collaboration platform 120 may refer to aconnection to another user via the collaboration platform 120.“Friendship” may refer the connection between at least two users via thecollaboration platform 120. In some implementations, a user and theirfriends may have special access to one another such as the ability tosee information about a friend's user account, send electronic messagesto one another, trade items, as well as others. In some implementations,establishing friendships may be performed by sending a friend request toanother user and having the other user accept the friend request toestablish the friendship. A friend request may be a message (oralternative) sent to a user requesting that the user establish afriendship with another user on the collaboration platform 120.

In some implementations, users of collaboration platform 120 may havebase functionalities to interact with other users of collaborationplatform 120. By establishing a friendship with another user, a user maybe allowed to access additional functionalities (also referred to as“privileges” or “additional privileges” herein) of the collaborationplatform 120 that allow the friends greater opportunity to interact withone another. In some implementations, users of collaboration platform120 that are friends may be able to use the base functionalities and theadditional functionalities in response to establishing a friendship.

In some implementations, the additional functionality may includemessaging functionality that allows user A (e.g., user of client device110A) and user B (e.g., user of client device 110B) to communicate usinga messaging service (e.g., messaging module 128) via the collaborationplatform 120 (e.g., posts, chats, personal messages, public messages,messaging in a virtual gaming environment, video, etc.). For example,the messaging functionality may allow users to transmit messages to eachother. In another example, the messaging functionality allows users totransmit certain types of information (e.g., sensitive information,contact information, name, picture, voice recording, current location,unique identifiers (device ID), etc.) to each other that would otherwisebe filtered by messaging module 128. It may be noted that user A anduser B are used for purposes of illustration, rather than limitation.For example, collaboration platform 120 may include one or more userscapable of establishing friendships that cause collaboration platform120 to grant additional functionality.

In some implementations, an additional functionality may include asharing functionality that allows user A and user B to share items witheach other via the collaboration platform 120. For example, users of agaming platform may have a sharing functionality that allows users topurchase, trade, or transfer virtual items, such as virtual currency, ina virtual gaming environment.

In some implementations, an additional functionality may include afollowing functionality that allows user A and user B to follow eachother into a game 122 or into a specific gaming environment of a game122 hosted by the collaboration platform 120. For example, user A may beparticipating in a game 122A. The following functionality may allow userB to navigate to a profile page of user A and select an option, “JoinGame,” on user A's profile page, which places user B in the game 122A(e.g., the specific gaming environment of game 122A where user A isparticipating). In implementations, the following functionality may alsoinclude a notification feature that for example, notifies user B of thegame in which user A has moved or is currently participating.

In some implementations, an additional functionality may include aninvitation functionality that allows user A and user B to invite eachother to a private game hosted by the collaboration platform 120. Forexample, user A may create a private game and the invitationfunctionality may allow user A to invite user B to participate in theprivate game.

In some implementations, an additional functionality may include a groupfunctionality that allows user A and user B to join a group hosted bythe collaboration platform 120. For example, the additionalfunctionality may allow user A to invite user B to a group where user Ais a group member or group creator. Members of a group may participatewith each other to compete against a different group in a game 122, mayparticipate with each other in building (e.g., environments, structures,etc.) within a game 122, may participate with each other to create agame 122 (e.g., via creator module 126), etc.

In some implementations, an additional functionality includes aninteraction functionality that allows user A and user B to interact witheach other via the collaboration platform 120. For example, the basefunctionality may allow a user to participate in single-player games(but not multi-player games) and the interaction functionality may allowthe user to participate in multi-player games. In another example, thebase functionality may allow user A to compete against other users in agame 122 and the interaction functionality may allow user A to worktogether with user B to compete against other users in a game 122. Itmay be noted that the additional functionalities described herein areprovided for purposes of illustration, rather than limitation. In otherimplementations, other features of collaboration platform 120 may beincluded in the additional functionalities that are provided in view ofestablishing a friendship.

For the sake of illustration, rather than limitation, user-generatedcontent friendship module 140 is described as implemented oncollaboration platform 120. In other implementations, user-generatedcontent friendship module 140 may in part or wholly be implemented onserver 130. In other implementations, user-generated content friendshipmodule 140 may in part or wholly be implemented on client devices 110.In other implementations, user-generated content friendship module 140operating on one or more of client device 110, server 130, orcollaboration platform 120 may work in conjunction to perform theoperations described herein. Although implementations of the disclosureare discussed in terms of collaboration platforms, implementations mayalso be generally applied to any type of platform providing connectionsbetween users or user-generated content. The user-generated contentfriendship module 140 may help facilitate the operations describedherein, such as operations described with respect to FIG. 2 through FIG.7 . In some implementations, the user-generated content friendshipmodule 140 may part of another application (e.g., collaborationapplication 114), such as a plug-in. In some implementations,user-generated content friendship module 140 may be a separateapplication executing on a device.

In situations in which the systems discussed here collect personalinformation about users, or may make use of personal information, theusers may be provided with an opportunity to control whether thecollaboration platform 120 collects user information (e.g., informationabout a user's social network, social actions or activities, profession,a user's preferences, or a user's current location), or to controlwhether and/or how to receive content from the content server that maybe more relevant to the user. In addition, certain data may be treatedin one or more ways before it is stored or used, so that personallyidentifiable information is removed. For example, a user's identity maybe treated so that no personally identifiable information can bedetermined for the user, or a user's geographic location may begeneralized where location information is obtained (such as to a city,ZIP code, or state level), so that a particular location of a usercannot be determined. Thus, the user may have control over howinformation is collected about the user and used by the collaborationplatform 120.

FIG. 2A is a flow diagram illustrating method 200 for establishingfriendships on a collaboration platform, in accordance withimplementations of the disclosure. Method 200 may be performed byprocessing logic that includes hardware (e.g., circuitry, dedicatedlogic, programmable logic, microcode), software (e.g., instructions runon a processing device to perform hardware simulation), or a combinationthereof. In some implementations, user-generated content friendshipmodule 140 executing at collaboration platform 120 may perform some orall the operations. In other implementations, user-generated contentfriendship module 140 executing at collaboration platform 120, clientdevice 110A, client device 110B, server 130 or combination thereof mayperform some or all the operations. Elements of FIGS. 1 and 4-7 may beused to help illustrate method 200. It may be noted that the in someimplementations, method 200 may include the same, different, fewer, or agreater number of operations performed in any order.

At block 205 of method 200, processing logic performing method 200provides, to a client device 110A of the creating user, a developerinterface of the collaboration platform 120. The developer interfaceallows the creating user to create a game specification for a game 122and to specify the condition (also referred to “social interactioncondition” herein) that identifies the first social interaction criteriafor the playing users playing the game. The satisfaction of the firstsocial interaction criteria of the condition qualifies at least one ofthe playing users to receive a friend request. An example of a developerinterface (e.g., user interface 400 of FIG. 4 and user interface 500 ofFIG. 5 ) is further illustrated with respect to FIGS. 4 and 5 .

Referring to FIG. 4 , a creating user may use user interface 400 todesign a game specification for a game that may be hosted bycollaboration platform 120 and publish the game so that the game isavailable or accessible to playing users of collaboration platform 120to play.

Returning to FIG. 2 , in implementations a social interaction conditionmay include one or more user-generated conditions specified by acreating user and may identify social interaction criteria for at leasttwo users (e.g., playing users) who are playing the game.

Referring to FIG. 5 , in some implementations the developer interface(e.g., user interface 500 of FIG. 5 ) allows a user to specify thesocial interaction condition 518 from a predetermined selection ofcriteria or allows the user to create a social interaction condition 518that is specific to the creating user's game. For example, a creatinguser may select criteria (e.g., proximity 520) from a predeterminedselection of criteria that identifies social interaction criteria fortwo users (proximity of the characters in the game), the satisfaction ofwhich causes the collaboration platform 120 to send a friend request toat least one of the two users. In another example, the creating user maycreate a customized social interaction condition that is specific to thecreating user's game. For example, if the game is a hide and seek game,the custom social interaction criteria may be the amount of time twocharacters hide together at the same location. Game data may indicatethat the two characters are in a same virtual location in the gameenvironment for at least a threshold period of time. The game data alsoindicates that the two characters are engaged in a hiding activity(e.g., not visible form certain camera angles that correspond to otherplaying users' perspective). It can be noted that social interactionbetween two playing users can be represented by game data, as furtherdescribed below with respect to FIG. 2A and FIG. 5 .

Returning to FIG. 2 , at block 210 processing logic receives the gamespecification for game 122 created by the creating user using thedeveloper interface (e.g., user interface 400 of FIG. 4 ) of thecollaboration platform 120 and the condition (e.g., social interactioncondition) specified by the creating user. It can be noted that the gamespecification may include the condition or the condition may be separatefrom the game specification. For example, creating user may save a gamespecification for game 122 using the developer interface and publish thegame 122 so that game 122 is hosted by collaboration platform 120 (or atleast accessible by the playing users of the collaboration platform 120)and available to playing users of collaboration platform 120 to play.

At block 215, processing logic hosts the game 122 on a collaborationplatform 120 to allow playing users to participate in gameplay of thegame 122. In hosting a game 122, collaboration platform 120 may allowusers via client devices 110 to use or access the hardware and softwareresources of collaboration platform 120 to play game 122.

At block 220, processing logic may identify a condition (e.g., socialinteraction condition) of the game 122. In implementations, the socialinteraction condition has been specified by the creating user of thegame 122. In implementations, the condition identifies first socialinteraction criteria for the plurality of playing users. Thesatisfaction of the condition (e.g., satisfaction of the first socialinteraction criteria) qualifies at least one of the first playing useror the second playing user to receive a friend request.

For example, subsequent to receiving the game specification for the game122 and the associated social interaction condition specified by thecreating user, the collaboration platform 120 may store both the gamespecification of the game 122 and the social interaction condition (e.g.social interaction condition 518 of FIG. 5 ) in memory. As playing usersparticipate in gameplay of the game 122, collaboration platform 120 (orgame) may retrieve the social interaction condition associated with theparticular game 122 from memory.

In an illustrative example, the social interaction condition identifiedby the collaboration platform 120 includes at least one of the proximity(e.g., same environment) of two playing user's characters in the gameenvironment of the game during gameplay for a threshold amount of time(e.g., 5 minutes) or a threshold number of messages sent between twoplaying users (e.g., 20 messages sent between the two users during aplaying session of game 122). The game data used to evaluate theaforementioned condition is further described below with respect to FIG.2A and FIG. 5 .

At block 225, responsive to identifying the condition (e.g., socialinteraction condition) of the game 122 specified by the creating user,processing logic monitors for events indicative of the first socialinteraction between the playing users of the game 122. It can be notedthat game data (e.g., data structures) may indicate or identify socialinteraction between two or more playing users.

In an implementation, monitoring for events indicative of the firstsocial interaction between the playing users of the game includemonitoring a game environment associated with the game for in-gameevents indicative of social interaction between the first playing userand the second playing user within the game environment.

In an implementation, monitoring for events indicative of the firstsocial interaction between the playing users of the game includemonitoring for global events indicative of social interaction betweenthe first playing user and the second playing user outside a gameenvironment of the game.

In some implementations, the game data may identify or be indicative ofevents, such as in-game events or global events, of social interactionbetween playing users. In implementations, the monitoring for events maybe for events performed within the game environment (e.g., riding thesame rollercoaster) with game-specific physics. In-game events may beevents performed within the game environment. In some implementations,the collaboration platform 120 may have access (e.g., using and API ordirectly and without an API) to game data indicative of the in-gameevents. In other implementations, the game may have access to game dataindicative to the in-game events and send the game data (e.g., using anAPI) or decisions made using the game data to the collaboration platform120.

In implementations, the monitoring may be for events that are globalevents (also referred to as “platform events” herein). Global events areperformed outside the game environment but on the collaboration platform120. For example, the users A and B are playing together for the last 2hours on a different game. Users A and B have engaged in a chatconversation N times in the past week while playing games X, Y, and Z.In some implementations, the collaboration platform 120 may have access(e.g., without an API) to game data indicative of the global events. Inother implementations, the game may have access to game data indicativeto the global events by using an API to retrieve game data indicative ofglobal events from the collaboration platform 120.

In implementations, collaboration platform 120 may perform some or allthe operations described herein using the game data generated by thecollaboration platform 120 (e.g. global events), received from the game(e.g., in-game events), or a combination thereof. In still otherimplementations, the game may perform some or all the operationsdescribed herein using the game data received from the collaborationplatform 120 (e.g. global events), generated by the game (e.g., in-gameevents), or a combination thereof. In still other implementation, thegame may be integrated with the collaboration platform 120 in a mannerthat the collaboration platform 120 has access to all (or most) the gamedata (via an API or without an API) and performs all (or some) of theoperations described herein.

At block 230, processing logic determines that a social interaction(determined using game data) between the first playing user and thesecond playing user satisfies first social interaction criteria of thecondition (e.g., social interaction condition) of the game 122. Forexample, the condition submitted by the creating user may be compared togame data indicative of the social interactions between playing users ofthe game to determine whether the condition is satisfied.

For instance, the condition selected by the creating user is that twoplaying users are to be proximate (e.g., in the same environment of agame) for at least 5 minutes. The collaboration platform 120 (or game)can use game data to determine that two playing users have beenproximate (e.g., within a threshold distance) for 8 minutes, whichsatisfies the condition. In another instance, the condition selected bythe creating user is that two playing users message one other 20 timesduring a gameplay session. The collaboration platform 120 (or game)using the game data may determine that two playing users have sent 10messages during a gameplay session, which does not satisfy thecondition.

At block 235, responsive to determining that the first socialinteraction between the two playing users satisfies the first socialinteraction criteria of the condition (e.g., social interactioncondition) of the game 122, processing logic sends the friend request toa first client device of the first playing user inviting the firstplaying user to establish a friendship on the collaboration platform 120(or game) with the second playing user. In some implementations,processing logic sends the friend request to a first client device ofthe first playing user and a second client device of the second playinguser inviting the first playing user and the second playing user toestablish a friendship on the collaboration platform 120 (or game). Insome implementations, responsive to determining that the socialinteraction between the two playing users does not satisfy the condition(e.g., social interaction condition) of the game 122, processing logicdoes not send a friend request to either of the two users and continuesto monitor for events.

In some implementations, processing logic may check to determine whetherthe two playing users are already friends via the collaboration platform120. If processing logic determines that two playing users are alreadyfriends, processing logic does not send a friend request irrespective ofwhether or not the social interaction of the two playing users satisfiedthe condition. If processing logic determines that the two playing usersare not friends and the social interaction between the two playing userssatisfies the condition, processing logic may send a friend request toat least one of the two playing users.

In some implementations, one or more of the playing users that satisfythe condition may be presented with a friend suggestion that includesthe other playing user(s) that satisfied the condition. For example, thefirst playing user may receive a friend suggestion suggesting that thesecond playing user become a friend. The first playing user may selectthe second playing user from the friend suggestion, which initiates afriend request to be sent to the second playing user requesting toestablish a friendship with the first playing user.

In some implementations, a friendship may be established via thecollaboration platform 120 (or game) between the first playing userbased on the friend request (e.g., the first playing user accepts thefriend request).

At block 240, subsequent to establishing the friendship between thefirst playing user and the second playing user, processing logicdetermines whether the friendship between the first playing user and thesecond playing user satisfies a quality friendship threshold. Inimplementations, a “quality friendship” may refer to a friendshipbetween two playing users that satisfies (equals or exceeds) the qualityfriendship threshold, which gives an indication that the friendshipbetween the two playing users endures after playing the game or anindication that the two playing users continue to socially interact withone another on the collaboration platform 120 after the friendship isestablished.

In some implementations, collaboration platform 120 may implementquality friendship determination operations determine whether thefriendships created using the user-generated condition(s) establishquality friendships (e.g., exceeds a quality friendship threshold).

Responsive to determining the friendship is a quality friendship,processing logic proceeds to block 245, where the collaboration platform120 provides recognition (e.g., recognition action) to the creating useror game. Responsive to determining the friendship is not a qualityfriendship, processing logic proceeds to block 250, where processinglogic performs a punitive action with respect to the creating user orgame. Determining whether the friendship between the first playing userand the second playing user satisfies a quality friendship threshold isfurther described with respect to FIG. 3 . In implementations,recognition and punitive actions may be used to incentivize creatingusers to establish quality friendships, rather than spam playing userswith friend requests, for example.

At block 245, responsive to determining that the friendship between thefirst playing user and the second playing user is a quality friendship,processing logic provides recognition to the creating user or the game.In some implementations, recognition may include increasing thevisibility of the game on the collaboration platform 120 or increasingthe visibility of the game in search results responsive a search queryon the collaboration platform 120.

In some implementations, games that are identified as creating qualityfriendships may be ranked higher than games that are not identified ascreating quality friendships. For example, collaboration platform 120may determine the number of quality friendships created by each gameover a time period. The games may be ranked corresponding to the numberof quality friendships (e.g., the game having established the mostquality friendships may be ranked first, and the game having establishedthe second most quality friendships may be ranked second, and so forth).The higher ranking games may be promoted over lower ranking games. Forinstance, the search results for games may more likely include gamesthat are ranked high with respect to creating quality friendships oversimilar games that are not ranked high with respect to creating qualityfriendships. In another example the number of quality friendshipscreated by each game may be a ratio between the number of qualityfriendships and the number of friend requests submitted. In stillanother example, the number of quality friendships may be a ratiobetween the number of quality friendship and the total number offriendships established.

In some implementations, recognition may include inserting a gameidentifier of the game into search results responsive to a search queryon the collaboration platform. In some implementations, recognition caninclude being monetarily compensated or compensated with virtualcurrency of the collaboration platform 120, for example. Search resultswith respect to quality friendships are further described with respectto FIG. 6 .

At block 250, responsive to determining that the friendship between thefirst playing user and the second playing user is not a qualityfriendship, processing logic performs a punitive action with respect tothe creating user. In some implementations, a punitive action mayinclude removing the game from search results, reducing a ranking of agame in a ranked list of games such as a list for “top games to makefriends” or the like.

In some implementations, games that are identified as not creatingquality friendships may be ranked lower than games that are identifiedas creating quality friendships For example, collaboration platform 120may determine the number of quality friendships created by each gameover a time period. The games may be ranked corresponding to the numberof quality friendships (e.g., the game having established the mostquality friendships may be ranked first, and the game having establishedthe second most quality friendships may be ranked second, and so forth).The lower ranking games may not be promoted or be less promoted thanhigher ranking games. For instance, the search results for games maymore likely include games that are ranked high with respect to creatingquality friendships over similar games that are not ranked high withrespect to creating quality friendships. In some implementations, lowerranking games with respect to quality friendships may not show up insearch results, may less frequently show up in search results, or beless visible in search results (e.g., below the page fold).

At block 255, processing logic determines a metric of friendshipsindicative of the response to the friend requests sent in response tosatisfying a condition selected by the creating user. The friendship mayinclude the friendship between the first playing user and the secondplaying user, as well as other friendships created via friend requestsprompted by the creating user's social interaction condition. A metricof friendships may refer to one or more values, statistics, oridentifiers that inform the creating user about friend requests sent andfriendships created using the social interaction condition selected bythe creating user.

At block 260, processing logic provides the metric of friendships forpresentation on the client device of the creating user. A user interface700 of FIG. 7 is provided below to help illustrate an example of thepresentation of the metric of friendships.

FIG. 2B is a flow diagram illustrating method for establishingfriendships using a game, in accordance with implementations of thedisclosure. Method 265 may be performed by processing logic thatincludes hardware (e.g., circuitry, dedicated logic, programmable logic,microcode), software (e.g., instructions run on a processing device toperform hardware simulation), or a combination thereof. In someimplementations, user-generated content friendship module 140 executingon a game server hosting a game 122 may perform some or all theoperations. In other implementations, user-generated content friendshipmodule 140 executing at collaboration platform 120, client device 110A,client device 110B, server 130 or combination thereof may perform someor all the operations. Elements of FIGS. 1, 2A and 4-7 may be used tohelp illustrate method 265. It may be noted that the in someimplementations, method 265 may include the same, different, fewer, or agreater number of operations performed in any order. In may be furthernoted that in some implementations, method 265 may include one or moreoperations as described with respect to FIG. 2A.

At block 270, processing logic implementing method 265 may provide agame 122 for gameplay. The game 122 is accessible by playing users via acollaboration platform 120. The game 122 is associated with a conditionthat identifies first social interaction criteria for the playing usersplaying the game. Satisfaction of the condition qualifies at least oneof the playing users to receive a friend request. In an implementation,the game 122 may be hosted by a game server outside of collaborationplatform 120. Collaboration platform 120 may provide access to the gamevia a search engine, resource locator (e.g., link), or otherwise so thatusers of the collaboration platform 120 may access and play the game122. In still other implementations, the collaboration platform 120 mayhost the game 122. In implementations, the game may exchange data orshare resources with the collaboration platform 120 using an API.

At block 275, processing logic may monitor for an event identifierindicative of a first social interaction between a first playing userand a second playing user of the playing users that are participating inthe gameplay of the game

In some implementations, monitoring for the event identifier indicativeof the first social interaction between the first playing user and thesecond playing user of playing users that are participating in thegameplay of the game includes monitoring a game environment associatedwith the game for an identifier of an in-game event (e.g., game data)indicative of social interaction between the first playing user and thesecond playing user within the game environment. In implementations, thegame 122 may monitor for the game data generated by the game 122 toidentify in-game events in the game environment. In one example, anin-game event includes the proximity of the first character associatedwith the first playing user and a second character associated with thesecond playing user within the game environment of the game.

In some implementations, monitoring for the event identifier indicativeof the first social interaction between the first playing user and thesecond playing user of playing users that are participating in thegameplay of the game includes receiving, from the collaboration platform120, an identifier of a global event indicative of social interactionbetween the first playing user and the second playing user outside thegame environment of the game and on the collaboration platform. Forexample, the game may use an API to request and receive game data fromthe collaboration platform 120 indicative global events. In an example,a global event includes messaging between the first playing user and thesecond playing user concurrent with the first playing user and secondplaying user participating in the gameplay of the game.

At block 280, processing logic determines, based on the event identifierthat the first social interaction between the first playing user and thesecond playing user satisfies the first social interaction criteriaidentified by the condition.

At block 285, processing logic causes the friend request to be sent to afirst client device of the first playing user inviting the first playinguser to establish a friendship with the second playing user on thecollaboration platform (or game). In an implementation, the game 122 maysend an indication to collaboration platform 120 requesting thecollaboration platform 120 to send a friend request to that the firstclient device of the first playing user. In another implementation, thegame 122 (or game server) may send the friend request to that the firstclient device inviting the first playing user to establish a friendshipwith the second playing user on the collaboration platform or on thegame 122.

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram illustrating method 300 for determining whetherthe friendship satisfies the quality friendship threshold, in accordancewith implementations of the disclosure. Method 300 may be performed byprocessing logic that includes hardware (e.g., circuitry, dedicatedlogic, programmable logic, microcode), software (e.g., instructions runon a processing device to perform hardware simulation), or a combinationthereof. In some implementations, user-generated content friendshipmodule 140 executing at collaboration platform 120 may perform some orall the operations. In other implementations, user-generated contentfriendship module 140 executing at collaboration platform 120, clientdevice 110A, client device 110B, server 130 or combination thereof mayperform some or all the operations. Elements of FIGS. 1, 2A and 4-7 maybe used to help illustrated method 300. It may be noted that the in someimplementations, method 300 may include the same, different, fewer, or agreater number of operations performed in any order.

At block, 305 processing logic identifies a quality friendship conditionthat identifies second social interaction criteria for the first playinguser of the second playing user. It can be noted that the second socialinteraction criteria may be the same or different than socialinteraction criteria described with respect to FIGS. 2A and 5 . In someimplementations, the quality friendship criteria may be determined bythe collaboration platform 120. For example, an administrator of thecollaboration platform 120 may determine and specify quality friendshipcriteria for a particular pair of playing users, a particular game, orfor the collaboration platform 120 generally. A quality friendshipcondition may refer to a measure of social interaction between twofriends after a friendship is established. For example, criteria of aquality friendship condition may include the frequency (or amount oftime) over a time period that two friends play the same games. Inanother example, the criteria of a quality friendship condition may bethe number of times over a time period the two friends message oneanother. In some implementations, the criteria of a quality friendshipcondition may include one or more of the social interaction criteria asdescribed herein (e.g., social interaction condition 518 of FIG. 5 ). Insome implementations, the criteria of a quality friendship condition mayinclude the number of social interactions over a time period compared toa threshold. It can be noted that one or more quality friendshipconditions may be established.

At block 310, processing logic monitors the second social interactionbetween the first playing user and the second playing user (e.g., for atime period) subsequent to establishing the friendship between the firstplaying user and the second playing user on the collaboration platform120. The monitoring of the social interaction between two friends may besimilar to block 225 of FIG. 2A but for the social interactions betweenfriends is monitored for multiple games and across the platform.

In an implementation, monitoring the second social interaction betweenthe first playing user and the second playing user subsequent toestablishing the friendship between the first playing user and thesecond playing user on the collaboration platform 120 includesmonitoring for global events indicative of the second social interactionbetween the first playing user and the second playing user. The globalevents may include social interaction between the first playing user andthe second playing user within another game environment associated withanother game of the collaboration platform.

In an implementation, the global events may include a number of timesthe first playing user and the second playing user engaged in amessaging conversation subsequent to establishing the friendship (e.g.,in the platform in the same game 122 or different games, etc.).

At block 315, processing logic determines whether the social interactionbetween the first playing user and the second playing user satisfies thequality friendship condition.

At block 320, responsive to determining that the second socialinteraction between the first playing user and the second playing usersatisfies the quality friendship condition, processing logic increases aquality friendship score associated with the first playing user and thesecond playing user. At block 325, responsive to determining that thesecond social interaction between the first playing user and the secondplaying user does not satisfy the quality friendship condition,processing logic decreases (or does not increase) the quality friendshipscore.

In some implementations, quality friendship condition used to increasethe quality friendship score may be different that the qualityfriendship condition used to decrease the quality friendship score. Forexample, the quality friendship condition used to increase the qualityfriendship score may be game data indicating that the first playing userand second playing user message 20 times in a week after establishingthe friendship. The quality friendship condition used to decrease thequality friendship score may be game data indicating the first playinguser and second playing user have not messaged in a week afterestablishing the friendship. Message between the playing users 1-19times the week after establishing the friendship does not change thequality friendship score.

At block 330, processing logic determines whether the quality friendshipscore satisfies the quality friendship threshold. The friendshipsatisfies the quality friendship threshold responsive to the qualityfriendship score equaling or exceeding the quality friendship threshold.The friendship does not satisfy quality friendship responsive to thequality friendship score being less than the quality friendshipthreshold. In some implementations, multiple conditions may beevaluated. In some implementations, the condition(s) may be evaluatedover a predetermined time period (e.g., day, week, month, etc.).

FIG. 4 illustrates a user interface to create and build games on thecollaboration platform, in accordance with some implementations of thedisclosure. Elements of FIG. 1 may be used to help illustrate FIG. 4 .In implementations, user interface 400 may be a developer interface thatallows a creating user to access creator module 126 of collaborationplatform 120. In implementations, a creating user may use collaborationapplication 114 of client device 110 (e.g., client device 110A) toaccess user interface 400.

User interface 400 shows a search engine portal 410 that allows acreating user to search for content items, such as game objects (e.g.,parts and models). In the present example, the creating user submits asearch query to the search engine (not shown) of collaboration platform120 using the search term, “vehicles.” Search engine may perform asearch process that returns relevant search results 412 of contentitems, such as game objects based on a search term, such as “vehicles.”

User interface 400 illustrates the placement or insertion of gameobjects in a game workspace 414. For example, game object 416 (e.g.,building) has been retrieved from the search engine portal 410 andinserted into a game workspace 414 to create a game environment of game122. In some implementations, the user may save the game 122 createdusing user interface 400 and publish the game to collaboration platform120. In some implementations, the game 122 may be created local toclient device 110 using user interface 400 and uploaded to collaborationplatform 120. In other implementations, the game 122 may be createdusing user interface 400 where the game 122 is created on and stored atcollaboration platform 120. Responsive to publishing the game 122 usinguser interface 400, collaboration platform 120 may host the game andallow users to access and play the game 122.

In some implementations, user interface 400 may include variousresources to help a creating user create a game. For example, the uppertool bar includes different tabs, such as “home,” “insert,” “terrain,”“test,” etc. As illustrated, user interface includes the tab, socialinteraction condition 418 tab. In implementations, a user may use thesocial interaction condition 418 tab to access a user interface windowthat allows the creating user to select or create user-generatedconditions that identify social interactions between users of the game122 that qualify the users to receive a friend request. The userinterface 500 window asserted by the social interaction condition 418tab is further described with respect to FIG. 5 .

FIG. 5 illustrates a user interface that allows a creating user tospecify social interaction criteria for a social interaction condition,in accordance with some implementations of the disclosure. Elements ofFIG. 1 may be used to help illustrate FIG. 5 . In implementations, userinterface 500 may be part of a developer interface that allows acreating user to access creator module 126 of collaboration platform120. In other implementations, user interface 500 may be separate fromthe developer interface. In implementations, a creating user may usecollaboration application 114 of client device 110 (e.g., client device110A) to access user interface 500.

User interface 500 shows social interaction condition 518, which mayinclude one or more criteria available for the user to select. As notedabove, the user may select the social interaction condition 518 for aparticular game that the creating user designs. Playing users playingthe game and whose social interactions satisfy the selected socialinteraction condition 518 receive a friend request to establish afriendship on collaboration platform 120. It may be noted that thecriteria included in social interaction condition 518 are provided forillustration, rather than limitation. In other implementations, socialinteraction condition 518 may include the same, different, fewer, orgreater options or criteria.

In some implementations, a social interaction condition 518 may includea proximity 520 criteria where the proximity of two characters in a gameenvironment during gameplay causes collaboration platform 120 to send afriend request to the two users association with the two characters. Theproximity 520 criteria may be further refined so the proximity 520criteria is satisfied responsive to satisfying a distance threshold 522,a time threshold 524, or combination thereof. For example, game datawith respect to the proximity 520 criteria may identify the users (e.g.,collaboration platform user ID), the characters' locations within thegame environment, and timestamps with respect to the locations and maybe provided by the game or collaboration platform 120. The game datawith respect to proximity criteria 520 may be indicative of an in-gameevent and be used to calculate relative proximity (e.g., distance withina threshold) of two characters and the amount of time characters spendin relative proximity. The relative proximity and the time spent inrelative proximity may be compared to the distance threshold 522 and atime threshold 524 respectively to determine if the proximity 520criteria are satisfied.

It can be noted that game data as described herein may be generated bythe collaboration platform 120 or the game. In some implementations,game data indicative of in-game events in the game environment may begenerated by the game and game data indicative of global events outsidethe game environment may be generated by collaboration platform 120. Insome implementations, the game data may be provided to the game by thecollaboration platform via an API, and vice versa. For example, the gamemay send an API request and receive API responses from the collaborationplatform 120 that include the game data.

In some implementations, the proximity 520 criteria may be used inconjunction with other criteria of social interaction using logicaloperators 526, such as logical AND or logical OR. For instance, usingthe logical AND operator, the creating user may select that theproximity 520 criteria and another criteria such as the messaging 528criteria so that both criteria must be satisfied before a friend requestis sent. In another instance using the logical OR operator, the creatinguser may select that any one of the proximity 520 criteria or anothercriteria such as the messaging 528 criteria are to be satisfied before afriend request is sent. It may be noted that all the criteria of thesocial interaction condition 518 may use logical operators 526.

In some implementations, a social interaction condition 518 may includea messaging 528 criteria where messaging between two users participatingin gameplay causes collaboration platform 120 to send a friend requestto the two users. The messaging 528 criteria may be further refined sothe messaging 528 criteria is satisfied responsive to satisfying anumber threshold 530, a time threshold 540, a sub-condition where thetwo users are concurrently messaging and looking at each other 568, asub-criteria where the two users are concurrently messaging and may viewone another 570 on their respective client device, or a combinationthereof. In some implementations, the users may message in theparticular game for which the social interaction condition 518 has beenspecified, leave the game and continue to message outside the particulargame and continue to message within the collaboration platform 120 (e.g.in one or more other games). In another implementation, the users may bemessaging before entering the particular game for which the socialinteraction condition 518 has been specified.

In implementations, game data (also referred to as “platform data”herein) with respect to the messaging 528 criteria may be obtained fromthe collaboration platform 120 (e.g., using an API). The game dataidentifies the users participating in gameplay of the game, whether theusers are messaging one another, the number of times the users aremessaging while participating in gameplay of the game, historic dataregarding messaging between the users (e.g., in other games and numberof times the users messaged one another), and information about theusers messaging after one or more of the users leave the game (e.g.,whether the users continue to message one another, start anotherconversation, the number of times the users message one another outsidethe respective game, etc.). In implementations, the game data withrespect to messaging may identify a global event indicative of socialinteraction between player users outside the game environment of thegame.

In some implementations, a social interaction condition 518 may includea shared objective 542 criteria where two users participating ingameplay and have a shared objective (e.g., rescue another character,find a special object, defeat an enemy, etc.) causes collaborationplatform 120 or the game to send a friend request to the at least one ofthe playing users. The shared objective 542 criteria may be furtherrefined so the shared objective 542 criteria is satisfied responsive tosatisfying a number threshold 546, a time threshold 544, or acombination thereof. In one implementation, the game may determine thatat least two users are participating in a shared objective and send anindication to collaboration platform 120 that the two players havesatisfied the shared objective 542 criteria.

An example of a shared objective 542 includes wining an enemy post bycollaboration, which may be represented in game data (e.g., the datastructures of the game) that indicates that two or more users that forma team, that the game provides gameplay that includes an objective tocapture an enemy post, and that upon detecting that the enemy post wascaptured, that the first social interaction has taken place between eachpair of playing users in the two or more playing users.

In implementations, game data with respect to shared objective 542criteria may identify the users (e.g., collaboration platform user ID,which may be received from the collaboration platform 120 via an API), adata structure that indicates that the users are participating in ashared objective, and timestamps identifying a time range during whichthe users participated in the shared objective. The game data withrespect to the shared objective 542 criteria may be indicative of anin-game event and be used to determine whether the shared objective 542criteria has been satisfied.

In some implementations, a social interaction condition 518 may includea shared activity 548 criteria where two users participating in gameplayand participating in a same or similar activity (e.g., riding the samevehicle, mining the same area, etc.) causes collaboration platform 120(or game) to send a friend request to at least one of the two users. Theshared activity 548 criteria may be further refined so the sharedactivity 548 criteria is satisfied responsive to satisfying a numberthreshold 552 (e.g., number of shared activities), a time threshold 550,or a combination thereof.

In implementations, game data with respect to the shared activity 548criteria may identify the users (e.g., collaboration platform user ID,which may be received from the collaboration platform 120 via an API), adata structure that indicates that the users are participating in ashared activity, and timestamps identifying a time range during whichthe users participated in the shared activity. The game data withrespect to the shared activity 548 criteria may be indicative of anin-game event and be used to determine whether the shared activity 548criteria has been satisfied.

In some implementations, a social interaction condition 518 may includea fighting the same enemy 554 criteria (e.g., also may be considered asub-criteria of the shared objective 542 criteria) where two usersparticipating in gameplay and fighting the same game object (e.g.,another character or game-generated game object) causes collaborationplatform 120 or the game to send a friend request to at least one of thetwo users. The fighting the same enemy 554 criteria may be furtherrefined so the fighting the same enemy 554 criteria is satisfiedresponsive to satisfying a number threshold 558 (e.g., number ofenemies), a time threshold 556, or a combination thereof.

In implementations, game data with respect to the fighting the sameenemy 554 criteria may identify the users (e.g., collaboration platformuser ID, which may be received from the collaboration platform 120 viaan API), a data structure that indicates that the users areparticipating in fighting the same enemy, the number enemies, andtimestamps identifying a time range during which the users participatedin fighting the same enemy. The game data with respect to the fightingthe same enemy 554 criteria may be indicative of an in-game event and beused to determine whether the fighting the same enemy 554 criteria hasbeen satisfied.

In some implementations, a social interaction condition 518 may includea the same team 560 criteria where two users participating in gameplayand their respective characters are on the same team causescollaboration platform 120 or game to send a friend request to at leastone of the two users. The same team 560 criteria may be further refinedso the same team 560 criteria is satisfied responsive to satisfying atime threshold 562.

In implementations, game data with respect to the same team 560 criteriamay identify the users (e.g., collaboration platform user ID, which maybe received from the collaboration platform 120 via an API), a datastructure that indicates that the users are participating on a sameteam, and timestamps identifying a time range during which the users areon the same team. The game data with respect to the same team 560criteria may be indicative of an in-game event and be used to determinewhether the same team 560 criteria has been satisfied.

In some implementations, a social interaction condition 518 may includea friend of a friend 564 criteria where two users participating ingameplay and that have a mutual friend (e.g., via the collaborationplatform 120) in common (e.g., the number of mutual friends exceeds athreshold number) causes collaboration platform 120 or game to send afriend request to at least one of the two users.

In implementations, game data with respect to the friend of a friend 564criteria may be obtained from the collaboration platform 120 (e.g.,using an API). The game data identifies the users participating ingameplay of the game, and whether the users share one or more mutualfriends, and the number of mutual friends between the users. Inimplementations, the game data with respect to the friend of a friend564 criteria may identify a global event indicative of socialinteraction between player users outside the game environment of thegame.

In some implementations, a social interaction condition 518 may includecustom 566 criteria where the creating user may create customized socialinteraction criteria that are specific to the creating user's game. Forexample, if the game is a hide and seek game, the custom socialinteraction condition may be the amount of time two players hidetogether at the same location. In another example, if the game is traingame, the custom social interaction condition may be the amount of timetwo players ride a train together. In some implementations, the custom566 criteria may be implemented using natural language, pseudo code, ora particular coding language.

In implementations, game data with respect to the custom 566 criteriamay identify the users (e.g., collaboration platform user ID, which maybe received from the collaboration platform 120 via an API), a datastructure that indicates that the users are participating in a anactivity etc. identified by the custom 566 criteria, and timestampsidentifying a time range during which the users participated in theactivity, etc. The game data with respect to the custom 566 criteria maybe indicative of an in-game event and be used to determine whethercustom 566 criteria has been satisfied. It can be noted that the gamedata with respect to the custom 566 criteria may identify differentin-game events and is dependent on the custom 566 criteria specified bythe creating user.

FIG. 6 illustrates a user interface showing search results for games, inaccordance with some implementations of the disclosure. Elements of FIG.1 may be used to help illustrate FIG. 6 . User interface 600 shows thesearch results 612 for a search query using the search term 614, “TopGames to Make Friends.” As illustrated, the search results 612 includeidentifiers (e.g., images) of the respective games. In implementations,a user may select a game (e.g., game identifier) from the search results612 to access the game from collaboration platform 120 or access thegame hosted outside the collaboration platform 120. In someimplementations, the games (e.g., game identifiers) may be displayed ina ranked order. For example, the games may be displayed top, left toright, bottom, left to right in descending ranking order (e.g., 1through 10 ranking).

In some implementations, games that are identified as creating qualityfriendships may be ranked higher than games that are not identified ascreating quality friendships. For example, collaboration platform 120may determine the number of quality friendships created by each gameover a time period. The games may be ranked corresponding to the numberof quality friendships (e.g., the game having established the mostquality friendships may be ranked first, and the game having establishedthe second most quality friendships may be ranked second, and so forth).The higher ranking games may be promoted over lower ranking games. Forinstance, the search results for “top games to make friends” may includethe highest ranking games.

In some implementations, games that are identified as not creatingquality friendships may be ranked lower than games that are identifiedas creating quality friendships. A punitive action may include ranking agame lower than other games with higher friendship quality. The lowerranking games may not be promoted or be less promoted than higherranking games. For instance, lower ranking games with respect to qualityfriendships may not show up in search results 612, may less frequentlyshow up in search results 612, or be less visible in search results 612(e.g., below the page fold).

FIG. 7 illustrates a user interface to present a metric of friendships,in accordance with some implementations of the disclosure. Elements ofFIG. 1 may be used to help illustrate FIG. 7 . In implementations, userinterface 700 may be part of a developer interface that allows acreating user to access creator module 126 of collaboration platform120. In other implementations, user interface may be separate from thedeveloper interface. In implementations, a creating user may usecollaboration application 114 of client device 110 to access userinterface 700. It may be noted that user interface 700 is provided forillustration, rather than limitation. In other implementations, userinterface may include the same, different, fewer, or additionalelements.

User interface 700 illustrates a “dashboard” that is available to thecreating user for displaying the metric of friendships indicative friendrequest sent for a particular game and the friendships established usingfriend requests sent in response to satisfying a social interactioncondition selected by the creating user. As noted above, a metric offriendships may refer to one or more values, statistics, or identifiersthat inform the creating user about friendships created using the socialinteraction condition selected by the creating user.

Graph 710 of user interface 700 shows a graphical representation of ametric of friendships. The right vertical axis 730 shows the number offriendships established. The horizontal axis 734 shows the time period(e.g., the last 4 weeks) for the data. The left vertical axis 732 showsthe number of friend requests sent. In graph 710, the dashed line showsthe total number of new friendships created for a particular timeperiod. In graph 710, the solid line shows the total number of the newfriendships that were determined to be quality friendships. In graph710, the bar graph shows the number of friend requests sent during theparticular time period.

User interface 700 also show user input 736 where the creating user mayselect a particular date range for which to show the metric offriendships. In some implementations, user interface 700 may showadditional information. For example, user interface 700 may show theconditions of social interaction selected by the user and staticsrelated each criteria of the condition. For instance, the user selectedproximity 720 criteria and messaging 728 criteria, which may correspondto criteria (e.g., proximity 520 and messaging 528 of FIG. 5 ,respectively) selected by the creating user (e.g., using user interface500 of FIG. 5 ).

In implementations, each of the selected proximity 720 criteria andmessaging 728 criteria may show statistics that correspond to graph 710.For example, in week 1 the proximity 720 criteria selected by thecreated user generated 80 friend requests. 40 of the friend requestsresulted in new friendships being formed on collaboration platform 120,and of those 40 new friendships all 40 were determined to be qualityfriendships. In another example, in week 3 the messaging condition 728selected by the created user generated 60 friend requests. 40 of thefriend requests resulted in new friendships being formed oncollaboration platform 120, and of those 40 new friendships 10friendships were determined to be quality friendships.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary computer system 800,in accordance with implementations. The computer system 800 executes oneor more sets of instructions that cause the machine to perform any oneor more of the methodologies discussed herein. Set of instructions,instructions, and the like may refer to instructions that, when executedcomputer system 800, cause computer system 800 to perform one or moreoperations of user-generated content friendship module 140. The machinemay operate in the capacity of a server or a client device inclient-server network environment, or as a peer machine in apeer-to-peer (or distributed) network environment. The machine may be apersonal computer (PC), a tablet PC, a set-top box (STB), a personaldigital assistant (PDA), a mobile telephone, a web appliance, a server,a network router, switch or bridge, or any machine capable of executinga set of instructions (sequential or otherwise) that specify actions tobe taken by that machine. Further, while only a single machine isillustrated, the term “machine” shall also be taken to include anycollection of machines that individually or jointly execute the sets ofinstructions to perform any one or more of the methodologies discussedherein.

The computer system 800 includes a processing device 802, a main memory804 (e.g., read-only memory (ROM), flash memory, dynamic random accessmemory (DRAM) such as synchronous DRAM (SDRAM) or Rambus DRAM (RDRAM),etc.), a static memory 806 (e.g., flash memory, static random accessmemory (SRAM), etc.), and a data storage device 816, which communicatewith each other via a bus 808.

The processing device 802 represents one or more general-purposeprocessing devices such as a microprocessor, central processing unit, orthe like. More particularly, the processing device 802 may be a complexinstruction set computing (CISC) microprocessor, reduced instruction setcomputing (RISC) microprocessor, very long instruction word (VLIW)microprocessor, or a processing device implementing other instructionsets or processing devices implementing a combination of instructionsets. The processing device 802 may also be one or more special-purposeprocessing devices such as an application specific integrated circuit(ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), a digital signalprocessor (DSP), network processor, or the like. The processing device802 is configured to execute instructions of the system architecture 100and the user-generated content friendship module 140 for performing theoperations discussed herein.

The computer system 800 may further include a network interface device822 that provides communication with other machines over a network 818,such as a local area network (LAN), an intranet, an extranet, or theInternet. The computer system 800 also may include a display device 810(e.g., a liquid crystal display (LCD) or a cathode ray tube (CRT)), analphanumeric input device 812 (e.g., a keyboard), a cursor controldevice 814 (e.g., a mouse), and a signal generation device 820 (e.g., aspeaker).

The data storage device 816 may include a non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium 824 on which is stored the sets ofinstructions of the system architecture 100 and user-generated contentfriendship module 140 embodying any one or more of the methodologies oroperations described herein. The sets of instructions of the systemarchitecture 100 and user-generated content friendship module 140 mayalso reside, completely or at least partially, within the main memory804 and/or within the processing device 802 during execution thereof bythe computer system 800, the main memory 804 and the processing device802 also constituting computer-readable storage media. The sets ofinstructions may further be transmitted or received over the network 818via the network interface device 822.

While the example of the computer-readable storage medium 824 is shownas a single medium, the term “computer-readable storage medium” caninclude a single medium or multiple media (e.g., a centralized ordistributed database, and/or associated caches and servers) that storethe sets of instructions. The term “computer-readable storage medium”can include any medium that is capable of storing, encoding or carryinga set of instructions for execution by the machine and that cause themachine to perform any one or more of the methodologies of thedisclosure. The term “computer-readable storage medium” can include, butnot be limited to, solid-state memories, optical media, and magneticmedia.

In the foregoing description, numerous details are set forth. It will beapparent, however, to one of ordinary skill in the art having thebenefit of this disclosure, that the disclosure may be practiced withoutthese specific details. In some instances, well-known structures anddevices are shown in block diagram form, rather than in detail, in orderto avoid obscuring the disclosure.

Some portions of the detailed description have been presented in termsof algorithms and symbolic representations of operations on data bitswithin a computer memory. These algorithmic descriptions andrepresentations are the means used by those skilled in the dataprocessing arts to most effectively convey the substance of their workto others skilled in the art. An algorithm is here, and generally,conceived to be a self-consistent sequence of operation s leading to adesired result. The sequence of operations is those requiring physicalmanipulations of physical quantities. Usually, though not necessarily,these quantities take the form of electrical or magnetic signals capableof being stored, transferred, combined, compared, and otherwisemanipulated. It has proven convenient at times, principally for reasonsof common usage, to refer to these signals as bits, values, elements,symbols, characters, terms, numbers, or the like.

It may be borne in mind, however, that all of these and similar termsare to be associated with the appropriate physical quantities and aremerely convenient labels applied to these quantities. Unlessspecifically stated otherwise, it is appreciated that throughout thedescription, discussions utilizing terms such as “hosting,”“determining,” “receiving,” “providing,” “sending,” “identifying,”“monitoring,” “increasing,” “performing,” or the like, refer to theactions and processes of a computer system, or similar electroniccomputing device, that manipulates and transforms data represented asphysical (e.g., electronic) quantities within the computer systemmemories or registers into other data similarly represented as physicalquantities within the computer system memories or registers or othersuch information storage, transmission or display devices.

The disclosure also relates to an apparatus for performing theoperations herein. This apparatus may be specially constructed for therequired purposes, or it may include a general purpose computerselectively activated or reconfigured by a computer program stored inthe computer. Such a computer program may be stored in a computerreadable storage medium, such as, but not limited to, any type of diskincluding a floppy disk, an optical disk, a compact disc read-onlymemory (CD-ROM), a magnetic-optical disk, a read-only memory (ROM), arandom access memory (RAM), an erasable programmable read-only memory(EPROM), an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory(EEPROM), a magnetic or optical card, or any type of media suitable forstoring electronic instructions.

The words “example” or “exemplary” are used herein to mean serving as anexample, instance, or illustration. Any aspect or design describedherein as “example” or “exemplary” is not necessarily to be construed aspreferred or advantageous over other aspects or designs. Rather, use ofthe words “example” or “exemplary” is intended to present concepts in aconcrete fashion. As used in this application, the term “or” is intendedto mean an inclusive “or” rather than an exclusive “or.” That is, unlessspecified otherwise, or clear from context, “X includes A or B” isintended to mean any of the natural inclusive permutations. That is, ifX includes A; X includes B; or X includes both A and B, then “X includesA or B” is satisfied under any of the foregoing instances. In addition,the articles “a” and “an” as used in this application and the appendedclaims may generally be construed to mean “one or more” unless specifiedotherwise or clear from context to be directed to a singular form.Moreover, use of the term “an implementation” or “one implementation” or“an embodiment” or “one embodiment” or the like throughout is notintended to mean the same implementation or implementation unlessdescribed as such. One or more implementations or embodiments describedherein may be combined in a particular implementation or embodiment. Theterms “first,” “second,” “third,” “fourth,” etc. as used herein aremeant as labels to distinguish among different elements and may notnecessarily have an ordinal meaning according to their numericaldesignation.

It is to be understood that the above description is intended to beillustrative, and not restrictive. Other implementations will beapparent to those of skill in the art upon reading and understanding theabove description. The scope of the disclosure may, therefore, bedetermined with reference to the appended claims, along with the fullscope of equivalents to which such claims are entitled.

In additional implementations, one or more processing devices forperforming the operations of the above described implementations aredisclosed. Additionally, in implementations of the disclosure, anon-transitory computer-readable storage medium stores instructions forperforming the operations of the described implementations. Also inother implementations, systems for performing the operations of thedescribed implementations are also disclosed.

What is claimed:
 1. A method comprising: hosting, by a processingdevice, a particular game on a collaboration platform that hosts aplurality of games to allow a first playing user and a second playinguser to participate in gameplay of the particular game; identifying acondition of the particular game that specifies a social interactioncriteria for the first playing user and the second playing user, whereinthe condition is specific to the particular game, and whereinsatisfaction of the social interaction criteria qualifies at least oneof the first playing user or the second playing user to receive a friendrequest; monitoring a game environment associated with the particulargame to detect one or more in-game events indicative of socialinteraction between the first playing user and the second playing userwithin the game environment that satisfies the social interactioncriteria, wherein the in-game events indicative of social interactionbetween the first playing user and the second playing user within thegame environment occur while the first playing user and the secondplaying user participate in the gameplay of the particular game; andresponsive to detecting the one or more in-game events, sending thefriend request to a first client device of the first playing userinviting the first playing user to establish a friendship with thesecond playing user on the collaboration platform.
 2. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising monitoring game data of the particular gameto identify the one or more in-game events based on game physics data.3. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the one or morein-game events includes a determination that a first characterassociated with the first playing user and a second character associatedwith the second playing user are proximate within the game environment,wherein the determination is based on a location of the first characterand the second character within the game environment during the gameplayof the particular game, and timestamps with respect to the location ofthe first character and the second character within the gameenvironment.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the monitoring comprisesmonitoring the collaboration platform for an event identifier indicativeof an interaction between the first playing user and the second playinguser via the collaboration platform.
 5. The method of claim 4, whereinthe monitoring for the event identifier indicative of the interactionbetween the first playing user and the second playing user includesreceiving, from the collaboration platform, an identifier of a globalevent indicative of an external social interaction between the firstplaying user and the second playing user on the collaboration platformthat occurs outside the game environment of the particular game, whereinthe global event is concurrent with the first playing user and thesecond playing user participating in the gameplay of the particulargame.
 6. The method of claim 1, further comprising: determining that thefriendship has been established between the first playing user and thesecond playing user on the collaboration platform; and determining thata quality friendship condition has been met between the first playinguser and the second playing user.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein atleast one of the one or more in-game events includes a determinationthat a first character associated with the first playing user and asecond character associated with the second playing user in theparticular game participated in a shared activity, wherein thedetermination is based on a data structure that indicates that the firstcharacter and the second character participated in the shared activity,and wherein the data structure includes timestamps identifying a timerange during which the first character and the second characterparticipated in the shared activity.
 8. The method of claim 1, whereinmonitoring the game environment associated with the particular game todetect the one or more in-game events comprises monitoring one or morecamera views that correspond to a perspective of a third playing user ofthe particular game.
 9. A system comprising: one or more processorscoupled to a nontransitory computer readable medium having storedthereon software instructions that, when executed by the one or moreprocessors, cause the one or more processors to perform operationsincluding: hosting a particular game on a collaboration platform thathosts a plurality of games to allow a first playing user and a secondplaying user to participate in gameplay of the particular game;identifying a condition of the particular game that specifies a socialinteraction criteria for the first playing user and the second playinguser, wherein the condition is specific to the particular game, andwherein satisfaction of the social interaction criteria qualifies atleast one of the first playing user or the second playing user toreceive a friend request; monitoring a game environment associated withthe particular game to detect one or more in-game events indicative ofsocial interaction between the first playing user and the second playinguser within the game environment that satisfies the social interactioncriteria, wherein the in-game events indicative of social interactionbetween the first playing user and the second playing user within thegame environment occur while the first playing user and the secondplaying user participate in the gameplay of the particular game; andresponsive to detecting the one or more in-game events, sending thefriend request to a first client device of the first playing userinviting the first playing user to establish a friendship with thesecond playing user on the collaboration platform.
 10. The system ofclaim 9, wherein the operations further comprise monitoring game data ofthe particular game to identify the one or more in-game events based ongame physics data.
 11. The system of claim 9, wherein at least one ofthe one or more in-game events includes a determination that a firstcharacter associated with the first playing user and a second characterassociated with the second playing user are proximate within the gameenvironment, wherein the determination is based on a location of thefirst character and the second character within the game environmentduring the gameplay of the particular game, and timestamps with respectto the location of the first character and the second character withinthe game environment.
 12. The system of claim 9, wherein the monitoringcomprises monitoring the collaboration platform for an event identifierindicative of an interaction between the first playing user and thesecond playing user via the collaboration platform.
 13. The system ofclaim 12, wherein the monitoring for the event identifier indicative ofthe interaction between the first playing user and the second playinguser includes receiving, from the collaboration platform, an identifierof a global event indicative of an external social interaction betweenthe first playing user and the second playing user on the collaborationplatform that occurs outside the game environment of the particulargame, wherein the global event is concurrent with the first playing userand the second playing user participating in the gameplay of theparticular game.
 14. The system of claim 9, wherein the operationsfurther comprise: determining that a friendship has been establishedbetween the first playing user and the second playing user on thecollaboration platform; and determining that a quality friendshipcondition has been met between the first playing user and the secondplaying user.
 15. The system of claim 9, wherein at least one of the oneor more in-game events includes a determination that a first characterassociated with the first playing user and a second character associatedwith the second playing user in the particular game participated in ashared activity, wherein the determination is based on a data structurethat indicates that the first character and the second characterparticipated in the shared activity, and wherein the data structureincludes identification of the first playing user and the second playinguser and timestamps that identify a time range during which the firstcharacter and the second character participated in the shared activity.16. The system of claim 9, wherein at least one of the one or morein-game events includes a determination that a first characterassociated with the first playing user and a second character associatedwith the second playing user in the particular game participated in ashared objective, wherein the determination is based on receiving a datastructure that indicates that the first character and the secondcharacter participated in the shared objective, and wherein the datastructure includes timestamps identifying a time range during which thefirst character and the second character participated in the sharedobjective.
 17. A nontransitory computer readable medium having storedthereon software instructions that, when executed by one or moreprocessors, cause the one or more processors to perform operationsincluding: hosting a particular game on a collaboration platform thathosts a plurality of games to allow a first playing user and a secondplaying user to participate in gameplay of the particular game;identifying a condition of the particular game that specifies a socialinteraction criteria for the first playing user and the second playinguser, wherein the condition is specific to the particular game, andwherein satisfaction of the social interaction criteria qualifies atleast one of the first playing user or the second playing user toreceive a friend request; monitoring a game environment associated withthe particular game to detect one or more in-game events indicative ofsocial interaction between the first playing user and the second playinguser within the game environment that satisfies the social interactioncriteria, wherein the in-game events indicative of social interactionbetween the first playing user and the second playing user within thegame environment occur while the first playing user and the secondplaying user participate in the gameplay of the particular game; andresponsive to detecting the one or more in-game events, sending thefriend request to a first client device of the first playing userinviting the first playing user to establish a friendship with thesecond playing user on the collaboration platform.
 18. The nontransitorycomputer readable medium of claim 17, wherein the operations furthercomprise monitoring game data of the particular game to identify the oneor more in-game events based on game physics data.
 19. The nontransitorycomputer readable medium of claim 17, wherein at least one of the one ormore in-game events includes a determination that a first characterassociated with the first playing user and a second character associatedwith the second playing user are proximate within the game environment,wherein the determination is based on a location of the first characterand the second character within the game environment during the gameplayof the particular game, and timestamps with respect to the location ofthe first character and the second character within the gameenvironment.
 20. The nontransitory computer readable medium of claim 17,wherein the monitoring comprises monitoring the collaboration platformfor an event identifier indicative of an interaction between the firstplaying user and the second playing user via the collaboration platform.